General Discussion Forum

Y'know TECHNICALLY, the metric system has been the official system of measurement in America for longer than I've been alive, but people never made an active effort to switch. That's why all packages for everything have metric measurements on them, even though they are frequently ignored in favor of the larger print Foot-Pound-Second system listings.

Regardless, the fact remains that three people have listed heights I can't identify with thus far, and it's very confusing and mildly frustrating.

Lieutenant Commander of the Lesbian Love Brigade
There can only be one, like in that foreign movie where there could only be one, and in the end there is only one dude left, because that was the point.

@cryptonic: There was the "How long is your ..." thread not long ago. I think you can fill in the ellipsis.

Lieutenant Commander of the Lesbian Love Brigade
There can only be one, like in that foreign movie where there could only be one, and in the end there is only one dude left, because that was the point.

@Stuffgamer1: TECHNICALLY, you're right. it was done that way more for international commerce than it was for the American consumer, though -- you'll note that those packages with the different markings on them say stuff like '1 pint (473 ml)' instead of '500 ml (1.057 pint)' or 'Net wt. 8 fl. oz./236 ml' instead of a round metric number and a decimaled amount of ounces.

BEST THREAD EVERfuture of NL >:3
[16:43] James: I should learn these site rules more clearly
[16:44] LztheBlehBird: James doesn't know the rules? For shame!!!
[16:44] Vintage: We have rules?
[16:44] Reala: don't expose the staff to sunlight, don't get them wet and don't feed them after midnight

@theblackdragon: I was just waiting for somebody to say something about easy-to-find converters! The thought had occured to me, but I was in one of those hilariously out-of-place self-righteous moods where it's THEIR fault I'm being inconvienienced and THEY should fix it! Or...something. I dunno. Maybe I was just being really, REALLY lazy.

Also, there are exceptions to the metric packing rule you described, such as the half-liter, liter, 2 liter, and 3 liter bottles of beverages widely available. I can't really think of another exception right off hand, but I can never forget the bottle thing because those "16.9 fluid ounce" bottles are just so silly-looking. Fortunately, some companies actually started putting the metric measurement in the foreground for that size recently. Looks SO much better that way.

If only everyone I knew was like that with their WEIGHT, Kim Jong-II! Last night, a friend was showing off part of how Wii Fit works at a social gathering, and she made us all close our eyes when her weight came up.

I'm surprised nobody's made a "how much do you weigh?" thread yet. Or did I just miss that one?

@theblackdragon: I was just waiting for somebody to say something about easy-to-find converters! The thought had occured to me, but I was in one of those hilariously out-of-place self-righteous moods where it's THEIR fault I'm being inconvienienced and THEY should fix it! Or...something. I dunno. Maybe I was just being really, REALLY lazy.

i was debating with myself whether or not to point out the obvious. :3

Stuffgamer1 wrote:

Also, there are exceptions to the metric packing rule you described, such as the half-liter, liter, 2 liter, and 3 liter bottles of beverages widely available. I can't really think of another exception right off hand, but I can never forget the bottle thing because those "16.9 fluid ounce" bottles are just so silly-looking. Fortunately, some companies actually started putting the metric measurement in the foreground for that size recently. Looks SO much better that way.

true. it's weird how that kinda evolved, isn't it, with just soda in the liter bottles? milk and juice are still sold in quarts and pints half-pints and gallons, for the most part. 2 and 3-liter bottles of soda are more popular than the 1-liter ones, though... it's so much easier to find 20 oz. bottles of soda in store coolers, and that's what you get out of vending machines, too. :3 personally, i don't care which is in the fore, so long as they keep the standard measurements on packaging someplace because that's what i'm most familiar with, and that's what all my cookbooks use.

BEST THREAD EVERfuture of NL >:3
[16:43] James: I should learn these site rules more clearly
[16:44] LztheBlehBird: James doesn't know the rules? For shame!!!
[16:44] Vintage: We have rules?
[16:44] Reala: don't expose the staff to sunlight, don't get them wet and don't feed them after midnight

true. it's weird how that kinda evolved, isn't it? though 2 and 3-liter bottles are more popular than the 1-liter ones, though... it's so much easier to find 20 oz. bottles of soda in store coolers, and that's what you get out of vending machines, too. :3 personally, i don't care which is in the fore, so long as they keep the standard measurements on packaging someplace because that's what i'm most familiar with, and that's what all my cookbooks use.

well, at least you're not so ronery with my American paragraph keeping you company

BEST THREAD EVERfuture of NL >:3
[16:43] James: I should learn these site rules more clearly
[16:44] LztheBlehBird: James doesn't know the rules? For shame!!!
[16:44] Vintage: We have rules?
[16:44] Reala: don't expose the staff to sunlight, don't get them wet and don't feed them after midnight

3 litre bottles of fizzy drinks pretty much encompass all that is wrong with the American diet, don't they? I mean, come on! Unless you've got gills and breathe the stuff it's going to go flat before you finish it and I cannot believe there's enough people in America having parties to justify the number I've seen in the shops, so clearly there's people walking around with bloody IV's full of it hooked up to their arms.

@Sean: i can safely say i've never seen a major brand of soda in a 3-liter bottle... it was always store-brand/off-brand stuff and weird flavors, like peach or strawberry or orange. bleh. also, i don't recall seeing them very often, though i could just be overlooking them at stores nowadays. what kind of stores are you going to where you see them in numbers enough to spawn that mini-rant? :3

BEST THREAD EVERfuture of NL >:3
[16:43] James: I should learn these site rules more clearly
[16:44] LztheBlehBird: James doesn't know the rules? For shame!!!
[16:44] Vintage: We have rules?
[16:44] Reala: don't expose the staff to sunlight, don't get them wet and don't feed them after midnight

@Sean: i can safely say i've never seen a major brand of soda in a 3-liter bottle... it was always store-brand/off-brand stuff and weird flavors, like peach or strawberry or orange. bleh. also, i don't recall seeing them very often, though i could just be overlooking them at stores nowadays. what kind of stores are you going to where you see them in numbers enough to spawn that mini-rant? :3

I can recall when 3l bottles of Coke first appeared; on visits back to the States in the last decade I've seen others, though I suppose it's possible they've stopped making them. Honestly, they might as well sell a keg and be done with it!

Okay, fine, I used a converter. Sean Aaron is roughly 5'11" and 208 pounds. I'm BARELY lighter than that, being somewhere between 200 and 205 right now. I was once 295 pounds, though, and that was an inch or two of height growth ago. So if I can lose weight, so can you (illogical statement, but I'm sticking with it)!

I do occasionally see people walking down the street drinking straight out of 3-liter bottles. Gross. I usually see them at social gatherings, though.

Sorry for making you feel bad, but you're the one who told me to get with the times, so I did, and these are the results. And you're the only one other than myself to actually post your weight, so you opened yourself up for this.